Farmer and rally organiser Olly Harrison has jokingly suggested he is willing to marry Chancellor Rachel Reeves in order to avoid handing over a hefty inheritance tax bill to future generations on his farm in a potential loophole.
Analysis suggests that the family of a single farmer would face paying an extra £100,000 in inheritance tax on a £3m estate than that of a married couple.
Speaking on GB News, Harrison quipped that marrying the Chancellor could solve the problem.
“If Rachel Reeves wants to get married, that would be great because I’m not married so I can’t pass over the £3m, I am still at the £1m”, he joked.
Olly Harrison made the joke on GB News
GB NEWS / PA
GB News’s Martin Daubney responded by saying Harrison was “willing to go the extra mile” by tying the knot with the Chancellor, who is already married to Nicholas Joicey, who works at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as Group Chief Operating Officer.
Harrison is working to arrange a Pancake Day rally, which will see farmers descend on Westminster once more with the aim of educating MPs on the role they play in the production of food.
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He told Martin Daubney they have extended invites to Labour MPs to join them for a pancake out on the streets of London.
“We have been putting it out on the socials and we would love them [MPs] to come, we would love to explain it”, he said.
“We’re going to tell a story of the level of investment required to produce a pancake. What does a pancake cost?
“There will be £3m worth of machinery behind it. Whether it’s the machinery to harvest the grass that feeds the cows for the milk, whether it’s the machinery that harvests the wheat for the flour.
Olly Harrison joined Martin Daubney on GB News
GB NEWS
“You don’t think of sugar. You just sprinkle it on without even thinking of the cost. The machine we’re bringing tomorrow costs £800,000 and that harvests sugarbee, to produce the sugar.
“We’re going to have the machines there and we’re going to invite the MPs out so we can cook them some pancakes - they might not be very good!
“We’re going to say that this is the level of investment.”
Children of single farmers may be forced to sell off farms to pay inheritance tax bills.
Chancellor Rachel ReevesPAThis occurs because they cannot access the combined allowances available to married couples.
The financial burden falls heavier on families where parents divorced or never married.
Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers' Union, called the situation "incredible" and "unjust".
"These businesses produce the country's food. And all of a sudden their viability depends on the owner's marital status, rather than the business itself," he told the Telegraph last November.
The NFU has criticised how farm succession is determined by personal circumstances rather than business viability.
The Government claims farmers can pass on land and property valued up to £3m tax-free.
However, Ian Dyall of Evelyn Partners says this figure is misleading.
"To arrive at the £3m figure, the Treasury is assuming that the farmer is able to claim two nil-rate bands," he explained.
"But very few people will be able to do this. Single farmers will only have one set of allowances."
